Editorial: Sport treasure on line | Wairarapa Opinion | Local Voices from Wairarapa, New Zealand

Who would ever have thought it.

Come the end of this week and Wairarapa could be home to two of New Zealand's most treasured sporting trophies.

Football's Chatham Cup is already in the bag. Wairarapa United defying the odds last winter to grab the prize so keenly sought by clubs up and down the country - leaving their fans literally dancing in the streets.

Now it is the turn of the Wairarapa senior men's cricket team to strut their stuff on their highest possible stage, engaging Hawke Cup holders Hamilton in Hamilton tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday for the minor associations' premier trophy.

As it just so happens that Wairarapa earned the right to challenge Hamilton by beating Hawke's Bay, Manawatu and Taranaki to finish top of the Central Districts zone two competition points table - and if that has happened before in the same season it must have been one hell of a long time ago.

That Wairarapa will be the underdogs against a Hamilton side chockful of players who have been part of the Northern Districts senior A or B squads virtually goes without saying but like our footballers that tag won't worry them one iota. They have already risen to the occasion several times this season and there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn't do so again.

What makes the 2012 Wairarapa squad so exciting is the number of young local players - Matt Stringfellow, Jamie Holmes, Tim Lucas, Dean van Deventer, Daniel Ingham and Ben Foster may not yet qualify as being household names yet but don't be surprised if some of them are up there with Ross Taylor, Doug Bracewell and Jesse Ryder in the not-too-distant future.

For more experienced campaigners such as Mark Childs, Seth Rance, Henry Cameron, Robin James, Robbie Spiers and Sam Curtis this weekend is the opportunity to at last get some deserved payback for all their years of hard toil. You can wager their enthusiasm will match that of their younger counterparts as they strive for glory as will that of selector-coach Mark Brown, who set a three-year goal of a Hawke Cup challenge when taking over three years ago. Wairarapa has challenged successfully for the Hawke Cup on three previous occasions but the last was back in 1976-77. That's a long time between drinks and something that will make the beer taste even better should they get the dream result in Hamilton.